Fake news stories surge during election season

WASHINGTON - You have seen them and perhaps even shared them. Fake news stories are surging on social media in the lead up to the election.

You may have seen an article in your Facebook feed recently from the "Denver Guardian.” The website claims an FBI agent who leaked Hillary Clinton emails is now dead after a fiery murder-suicide.

The information in the story is completely false. The author couldn’t even correctly identify the Maryland town of Walkersville where the purported crime took place, instead calling it “Walkerville.”

While the creators of fake news sites could be trying to influence the election, they are definitely trying to make quick cash by selling ads on their pages. They rely on people to share their sensational, false headlines on social media to get as many hits as possible.

FOX 5 learned just how easy it is for anyone, anywhere to create fake news. Using a popular web building site, it only took about $50 and 20 minutes to produce a fake story about a blizzard set to hit Washington D.C. on Election Day.